Victor Matfield

 

Victor Matfield (born 11 May 1977) is a South African former professional rugby union player. He played for and captained the South Africa national team (Springboks) as well as the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup and the Bulls franchise in Super Rugby. He is generally considered one of the best locks to have ever played for South Africa and had a long successful partnership with Springbok and Blue Bulls teammate Bakkies Botha.

After school, Matfield went to study at the University of Pretoria where he made the university's under-21 side. It did not take long for him to be selected for the Blue Bulls under-21 side as well.

In 1997, Matfield was selected for the under-21 Springbok side captained by Bobby Skinstad. Matfield was also selected for the 1998 squad.

A big turning point in Matfield's career came when he decided to leave the Blue Bulls for the Griquas in 1999, where he was also selected to represent the Cats in the Super 12 that year. The move allowed him to prove his worth, and in 2000 he was given the opportunity to represent the Bulls Super 12 team.

His hard work did not go unnoticed, and in 2001 he was finally selected for the Springbok squad, making his debut on 30 June 2001 against Italy. Matfield went on to help the Springboks' renaissance in 2004 and 2005; in the latter year, he made the five-man shortlist for IRB World Player of the Year.

 

 

Matfield was an instant selection for South Africa's 2007 World Cup winning-squad, and won the Man of the Match award in the final for his brilliant work in the line-out.

Victor had been linked with a move to Leicester Tigers of the English Premiership after the 2007 Rugby World Cup, but later signed a six-month contract with French second division club Toulon, beginning in January 2008. At Toulon, he joined an ambitious side whose president Mourad Boudjellai signed many veteran superstars for the 2007–2008 season, such as Australian George Gregan, the sport's all-time leader in international appearances; Andrew Mehrtens, the all-time leading scorer for the All Blacks; and, as coach, former All Blacks captain Tana Umaga.

Between January and February 2008, Matfield played for Toulon in a stretch of nine key matches, before returning to South Africa and taking part in the 2008 Super 14 season with the Bulls. It was reported his decision to return was due to the South African Rugby Union having reconsidered to continue with its policy of allowing a limited number of overseas-based players to play for the Springboks.

In 2014, Matfield returned to rugby as a player, signing a 2-year playing contract with the Bulls to keep him in the game until the end of 2015.

At the 2015 Rugby World Cup, Matfield started in the first 2 group games for South Africa. The Springboks advanced to the knock out stages, with Matfield coming on from the bench in their semi-final loss to New Zealand. Matfield's final international game was a 24-13 victory in the third place playoff against Argentina where he again came on as a second half substitute.

In 2015 it was announced that Matfield would sign for Northampton Saints after the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Matfield played for Northampton for one season before ending his 21 year career in a game against Gloucester Rugby.

 

 

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